1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to an improved method and apparatus for accessing data on a distributed database within a distributed data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for storing references to selected web pages within a distributed data processing system.
2. Description of Related Art
Internet, also referred to as an xe2x80x9cinternetworkxe2x80x9d, in communications is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from the sending network to the protocols used by the receiving network (with packets if necessary). When capitalized, the term xe2x80x9cInternetxe2x80x9d refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols.
The Internet has become a cultural fixture as a source of both information and entertainment. Many businesses are creating Internet sites as an integral part of their marketing efforts, informing consumers of the products or services offered by the business or providing other information seeking to engender brand loyalty. Many federal, state, and local government agencies are also employing Internet sites for informational purposes, particularly agencies which must interact with virtually all segments of society such as the Internal Revenue Service and secretaries of state. Operating costs may be reduced by providing informational guides and/or searchable databases of public records online.
Currently, the most commonly employed method of transferring data over the Internet is to employ the World Wide Web environment, also called simply xe2x80x9cthe webxe2x80x9d. Other Internet resources exist for transferring information, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achieved the popularity of the web. In the web environment, servers and clients effect data transaction using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a known protocol for handling the transfer of various data files (e.g., text, still graphic images, audio, motion video, etc.). Information is formatted for presentation to a user by a standard page description language, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In addition to basic presentation formatting, HTML allows developers to specify xe2x80x9clinksxe2x80x9d to other web resources identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A URL is a special syntax identifier defining a communications path to specific information. Each logical block of information accessible to a client, called a xe2x80x9cpagexe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9cweb pagexe2x80x9d, is identified by a URL. The URL provides a universal, consistent method for finding and accessing this. information by the web xe2x80x9cbrowserxe2x80x9d. A browser is a program capable of submitting a request for information identified by a URL at the client machine. Retrieval of information on the web is generally accomplished with an HTML-compatible browser.
When a user desires to retrieve a page, a request is submitted to a server connected to a client computer at which the user is located and may be handled by a series of servers to effect retrieval of the requested information. The information is provided to the client formatted according to HTML. Typically, personal computers (PCs) along with work stations are typically used to access the Internet.
A number of users employ the Internet to access information using links displayed on a page in the browser. The method of searching for information on the Internet is referred to as xe2x80x9csurfingxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbrowsingxe2x80x9d. Internet browsing can be distracting because a user may be searching for a particular piece of information and become distracted by other interesting links, such as advertisements or articles. By the user becoming distracted by other articles while browsing, the user may forget the original information being searched or may spend too much time following interesting links other than those leading to the desired information. Alternatively, if the user remains concentrated on the user""s tasks, the user may lose the interesting links. For example, the page may no longer be found in back/forward list, or the user may forget on what page the link occurred.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and apparatus for searching the Internet.
It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved data processing system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for accessing data on a distributed database within a distributed data processing system.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for storing references to selected web pages within a distributed data processing system.
The present invention provides a method and system for browsing a distributed database. Storage is allocated in a computer for a file, wherein the file is used for storing references to data in the distributed database for retrieval at a later time. A reference to data in the distributed database is added to the file in response to a user input from a user using the computer to browse the distributed database. The data is retrieved from the distributed database using references to the data stored within the file in response to a selected event.